Projects

Vietnamese restaurants are widespread in major German cities, but often only offer a limited selection of dishes that correspond to the German cliché of ‘Asian food’. This makes the actual diversity of Vietnamese cuisine and the cultural knowledge about it invisible. The project ’Have you eaten yet? ’ aims to make Vietnamese food culture in the diaspora visible in the context of colonial and migration history and to deconstruct existing narratives. In a series of workshops, a collective tablecloth will be created that documents personal stories and recipes in order to promote a self-determined food culture through the collection and exchange of individual experiences within the diaspora. In the long term, the results will be published on a website that will serve as an ongoing collection of knowledge and experiences from the community and will present those in various formats such as text, audio and video.

https://www.instagram.com/hastduschongegessen

The project ‘Fragments of age(ing) in the migration society’ deals with the social, economic and individual conditions for the dignified ageing of migrants and migrantised people in Germany. The focus is on the lived experiences and self-narratives of people with a history of migration, especially those affected by multiple discrimination. Based on the (working) biographies of migrant pensioners and those who will soon be one, the aim is to examine what institutional framework is provided for them and what imaginations are still needed. It is not only about vulnerability, but also about strength and resilience: How do they tell their biographies in Germany, what role does migration play and what current issues concern them? The shared knowledge is to be made accessible via a website and serve as a gateway for intergenerational exchange.

Clocking In, Dreaming On is a project that uses various formats to address the realities of life and exploitative working conditions of food and grocery delivery workers in Germany. The project focuses on drivers and delivery workers specifically in Berlin, to shed light on the precarious nature of their employment and the systemic problems that lead to their marginalisation which remain largely unexplored. Through a combination of podcasts, videos, exhibitions and online engagement, knowledge will be disseminated in various accessible formats and under free licences. This approach aims not only to document and preserve evidence and knowledge on this issue, but also to encourage civil society organisations, activists and trade unions to engage with and advocate for this issue.

Hold the Line: Filipino Family stories of resistance generations apart is a call to the growing Filipino diaspora, who face exploitation and struggle in Germany, but who also need to address the exploitation and struggle back home in the Philippines, to draw strength from their legacy of resistance and embody the dreams of their ancestors. The project will manifest the intergenerational history of Filipino resistance and what this means for young activists today. This will be done by documenting family memories of the grantees during the People’s Power Movement in the Philippines, juxtaposing them with stories of young Filipino activists in Germany and exploring points of contact between these stories. The results are presented in visual essays that combine film/photography with archival materials and audio recordings of family stories, interweaving lived experiences with historical facts through a decolonial approach.

Visual images are an essential part of our development and our self-image. For Black people, photography plays a particularly powerful role: it shapes the way they are perceived and influences images in society. Historically, photographs have created stereotypes that have often not been sufficiently scrutinized. In a world where we are constantly surrounded by images through social media and our consumer behavior, it is more important than ever to address these issues. At The Seen but Unseen, a three-part video essay series aims to provide access to and intensive engagement with the topic. Each essay explores a central theme of photography: the colonial gaze and its enduring influence, the (re)imagination of a new Black visual language and the role of photography as a tool for empowerment and resistance. The aim of the series is to explore these themes in depth and with sensitivity and to raise awareness of the impact of images on our perception and our lives.

The project aims to open up transgenerational and pluralistic paths of remembrance for Roma and Sinti in Samudaripen: Through visits to places of persecution and extermination of Roma and Sinti under National Socialism in Serbia and Jasenovac, the paths of life, suffering and death of ancestors of Roma living in Germany are to be researched and biographically analysed through community-based knowledge and memories on the historic sites. To this end, video interviews will be conducted in Serbia with representatives of Roma self-organisations, the second generation of survivors, and today’s descendants, which and will be discussed in a digital workshop on knowledge transfer with Roma and Sinti*zze activists under the question ‘How to present plural memory of the Samudaripen?’. Parts of the knowledge and memory of Samudaripen will be published under free licences as a contribution on the website of the Roma Antidiscrimination Network.

Palestinian history and present are largely invisible in Germany, even though the largest diaspora community in Europe lives in Berlin. The knowledge that circulates about Palestinians is characterized by colonially charged terms, images, laws, norms and street names. This discursive violence not only overwrites their history, collective experiences of violence, resistance and solidarity, but also devalues and criminalizes Palestinian existence. In this project, a feminist Palestinian collective that has come together to archive Palestinian history in Germany will continue its work and publish a guide to archive work under free license as part of re-shape. In a series of workshops, important working methods, methods and ethical aspects of conducting interviews, but also of publishing interviews, texts and video material, will be developed and recorded. The aim is to show what archiving practice can look like for the history of a marginalized community in the face of state repression.

https://www.instagram.com/fempalarchiv/

Punch Up TV is a continuation and further development of the multimedia podcast Punch Up, which has been published by Newroz Çelik since 2018. While the podcast focuses on topics such as trans hostility, gentrification, police violence and social movements, the aim of re·shape is to develop new content with more technical and editorial resources, improved audiovisual quality and to reach new target groups for marginalized knowledge. In particular, it aims to increase the visibility of BIPOC trans people and focus on their perspectives and analyses. Over a period of one year, one audio interview and one video will be published each month, with interviews being conducted with activists and their work and a (current) political topic being highlighted. The aim is also to bring together different social movements under the question ‘What are the conditions for functioning alliances?’.

According to the Missing Migrants Project, 28,893 migrants have disappeared in the Mediterranean in the last ten years since 2014. These migrants are mainly Africans from sub-Saharan Africa, who have very different realities of life. While the media only reports on the disappearance of these people in the Mediterranean, there is usually no coverage of their survival and how they reach Europe and thus also Germany. The aim of the project is to archive the accounts of their challenging journeys, their everyday experiences with bureaucracy and racialisation in Germany, but also to document their resilience. The main aim of the project is to make the voices of the survivors from sub-Saharan Africa in the Mediterranean visible, as the media only ever reports on those who have disappeared and the survivors remain invisible.

https://www.instagram.com/onevoicekangkiling

The project For the youth! For our future! Youth against racism and war! aims to empower young people to capture and reflect on their social reality and environment through photography and video documentation. For this, workshops are held in advance to train young people in the areas of photography, videography, storytelling and documentation, as well as organizing events that highlight existing political youth engagement on topics such as anti-racism and anti-militarism. The skills learnt are then put into practice: The young people document the events, workshops and coexistence through photos and videos. The project aims to show how young people learn to live together in solidarity rather than in competition and division and that young people are able to critically and creatively reflect on and document their world.

Muriel Gonzales Athenas  / Amdrita Jakupi

Many, especially queer, BIPoC individuals in the current urban environment of Cologne have limited or no access to spaces for developing decolonial and anti-racist perspectives. This project is part of an anti-racist neighborhood initiative in the Cologne district Südstadt. We aim to create a physical decolonial space for a network of BIPoC individuals who are active in various anti-racist, social, and political groups. This anti-colonial space in Cologne is intended to serve as a new and urgently needed platform for connection. The well-being of those involved in the alliance is at the forefront, with toxic performance pressure patterns of German activism being “interrupted” or transformed through an active practice that counters them, as well as through exchanges, discussion spaces, and shared analysis.

The project seeks to experiment with, learn from, and disseminate methods of transformative justice within the community. The physical space is intended to facilitate ongoing exchange of experiences among the people who come together there. On the other hand, the space should be a refuge, a place of safety and gathering, allowing activists to recuperate and regenerate. Intergenerational participation is encouraged, regardless of origin, sexual orientation, educational background, and other characteristics.

Christopher Nixon
www.christopher-nixon.de

James Baldwin is considered one of the most significant African American writers. The recent translation of his works by dtv is currently receiving widespread acclaim among a broad audience in Germany. This ‘Baldwin Renaissance’ does not only involve Black writers, translators, and communities but also contributes to their individual and collective identity formation in the face of experiences of exclusion and racism that Baldwin’s novels, essays, and poems have long addressed.

Especially for Queers of Color, his works provided a window into a world where their experiences found language and form, offering hope for “Another Country.” His works brought visibility to an intersectional diversity of Black lifestyles, a diversity that was not always recognized by Communities of Color and Baldwin’s contemporaries. While global markets continue to exploit people for the profit of the Global North, we are experiencing a backlash in the post-Trump era and in the politically charged climate dominated by right-wing populism in Germany. This backlash primarily targets Queers of Color, making it once again crucial to listen to Baldwin’s admonishing and hopeful voice.

Therefore, an audio feature is set to be created that will highlight and reevaluate the intersectional ‘Black Queerness’ in Baldwin’s work. It will also emphasize that queer Black individuals like James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Katharina Oguntoye have shaped both the U.S. and Afro-German anti-racism movements. The audio feature will include interviews with experts and activists, archival material, passages from novels and poems voiced by actors, as well as sounds and musical pieces. These ‘fragments’ will be assembled into a collage piece.

Tú Qùynh Nhu Nguyễn / Sara Djahim

The project aims to depict the diversity and resistance practices and strategies of the first generation of migrants and refugees. The focus is on the idea that not only transgenerational traumas, but also resilience, knowledge/wisdom, will to live and joy are passed on. The blog Mondkuchen aims to collect this previously invisible knowledge about survival strategies and everyday practices of resistance. Mondkuchen will include various formats, including written contributions such as essays, interviews and poetry, but also videos, photos and illustrations.

The project will begin as part of re-shape with the launch of the website, which will be used as an open platform in the long term. This should ultimately become a place where knowledge, emotions and experiences can be shared: On the one hand, it should serve the communities to make common topics and different practices discussable, and on the other hand, it should express the appreciation and respect that these bodies of knowledge and those who came before us deserve.

>>> The blog Mondkuchen can be found here.

Xinan Pandan

Individuals affected by racism and/or migration experiences, disabilities, chronic illnesses, queerphobia, trauma, or abusive family backgrounds often have a heightened need for support, which is, however, scarcely accessible to them.

In this project, we are developing a freely downloadable workbook in the form of an illustrated zine on the topic of support systems for marginalized communities in need of them. The workbook is intended to serve as a resource for input and methods to assist in building support systems. It is primarily aimed at individuals who may not wish to or be able to participate in workshops. The workbook will include a combination of input, anecdotes, illustrations, examples, reflection methods, and writing tasks.

The focus lies on empowerment to address individual changes in agency and also on structural discrimination. Broader political solutions are called for to improve living conditions for all.

The aim is to promote empowerment, strengthen agency, deepen community connections, and enable marginalized individuals to lead fulfilling lives.

Antonia Ramos Posto, Yolanda Justina Nina Becerra & Llanquiray Painemal Morales

Antonia Ramos Posto, Yolanda Justina, Nina Becerra and Llanquiray Painemal Morales have been working without support on the topic of making undocumented/illegalized or irregular migrant women visible in Berlin. As part of the project, they created podcasts that address the situation of these groups. The group had the opportunity to learn new tools and acquire technical skills to support their future political work. The collected interviews, information and audio files were compiled by the activists into podcast episodes and published on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or similar channels.

>>> The first episode of the podcast can be found here

Mino

Ethnography has been gaining renewed attention in the field of philosophy, and in academia more generally, as a way to engage directly with actors in marginalized communities. It is seen as an attractive alternative to making abstract theories based on problematic assumptions about them or relying solely on outdated literature. However, ethnography’s history and legacy as a method that has developed out of European colonialism used to construct and reinforce hierarchical notions of race and culture is often not addressed. The project aims to publish sections of a master thesis that calls for a critical examination of ethnography as a research methodology. The goal is to develop ethical practices for academics engaging with marginalized groups. The project emphasizes the need to scrutinize the discipline of philosophy for its role in shaping concepts like race, which has been historically constructed for colonialist and racist justifications.

The funding will support the transformation of complex academic language into more accessible terms, making the content understandable to a broader audience. While the primary focus is on academic researchers and their interactions with marginalized groups, the project’s insights can be beneficial to journalists, artists, filmmakers, and others who aim to engage with marginalized groups in a critical and respectful manner. This entails being wary of power imbalances and the possibility of exploitation.

KARAKAYA TALKS

KARAKAYA TALKS (www.instagram.com/karakayatalks) is a media company that produces news and talk shows for German-speaking millennials and Gen Z individuals of color. The goal is to make marginalized perspectives in Germany visible, as these are often neglected in the media. Despite 27% of the German population being BIPoC, these communities are scarcely represented in the media, and if they are, it’s often in stereotypical contexts. The KARAKAYA TALKS team is composed of 100% multiply marginalized BIPoCs and primarily utilizes social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to disseminate content.

By participating in re•shape, they aim to both strengthen their presence on social media and continue producing content that is often overlooked in the mainstream media landscape. Additionally, they seek to understand the creation of Wikipedia articles, potentially documenting their journalistically acquired knowledge and describing their work autonomously on Wikipedia. The program is designed to document missing knowledge about “media justice” and to correct distorted representations online about individuals from marginalized communities, for example, on Wikipedia. The entire initiative aims to enhance the presence and representation of BIPoC communities in the media and independently document and disseminate their knowledge.

Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman / Farah Abdullahi Abdi  

The TRAP$ Academy project is dedicated to formalizing and sharing knowledge within the Black Trans/GNC (Gender Non-Conforming) community. Established in 2021, TRAP$ is a grassroots organization created by and for Black/Afro-diasporic Trans and gender variant individuals. This community often faces marginalization within broader Black movements and invisibility within (white) queer movements. The Academy’s primary goal is to offer intersectional, critical train the tainer-training to empower Black Trans individuals, addressing aspects of gender, race, class, power, and privilege.

The curriculum is crafted by Farah Abdullahi Abdi and Lee Modupeh Anansi Freeman, who are both diversity and inclusion consultants. The curriculum covers crucial topics such as asylum/migration, (trans)misogynoir, transphobia, colorism, and ableism. The program involves immersive workshops delving deeply into specific subjects and assignments that participants complete individually or in groups. The aim is to provide “formalized” knowledge in a safer, accessible environment. Participants are equipped with tools to connect formal knowledge with their own lived experiences, creating meaningful content that can be used for personal workshops.

The overarching objective is to validate participants’ lived experiences as valuable sources of knowledge. In the long term, the Academy aims to equip participants with skills that can offer them an additional source of income. Given that Black Trans individuals often face discrimination and difficulties accessing knowledge and traditional workspaces, the project emphasizes the direct link between knowledge equity and financial empowerment.

Lea Sherin Kübler / Lorena Richter / Rahul Rahman

The project “From Dreams and Traumas to Self-Organization and Resistance” aims to promote situated knowledge in BIPoC communities by facilitating intergenerational conversations about self-organization, resistance, political practices, dreams and traumas. The focus is on translating past experiences into the present and learning from the struggles of older generations. The initiative addresses challenges in the transmission of experiences and practices in personal contexts by creating spaces for exchange that are often scarce. The project aims to critically question hegemonic power structures of knowledge production through alternative narratives of (post-)migrant life in Germany. It aims to make a practical contribution to knowledge sharing in BIPoC communities. The exchange of knowledge, both individually and collectively, is intended to create moments of self-empowerment and raise awareness of knowledge in the communities.

The conversations were recorded in small groups together with the project coordinators and archived in an open database after consultation and consent of the participants in order to make the knowledge accessible to everyone. The aim is to uncover shared experiences and different perspectives in BIPoC communities and to create a space for learning in solidarity and exchanging knowledge constructions.

>>> The publication produced as part of the project in the form of a zine can be downloaded here.

Mandy Lan / Kim Gerlach

Wūpó is an existing library for the visibility for BIPoC healers in Berlin. With over 50 well-being practitioners (from acupuncture to Reiki and more) already registered, the project’s goal is to expand the library and collaboratively provide empowering tools from the community for the community. The focus is on particularly valuing body wisdom alongside cognitive intelligence. The project intends to work closely with various QBIPoC well-being practitioners from their directory to share insights that reconnect individuals with their bodies. Rather than offering short-term retreats or events, the project aims to share integration tools that have lasting impact.

The project’s activities include:

1. Developing a free repository of knowledge, referred to as the “Wiki of Body Knowledge for QBIPoC.” This repository will contain brief 2-minute exercises presented in video format.
2. Sharing “behind the scenes” videos that introduce each healer’s intentions and practices, providing a deeper understanding of their methods.
3. Establishing feedback loops to enable practitioners to adapt and grow in response to community needs, utilizing AI pattern recognition.